Being **** = "obsessive" is a great quality - I don't care what anyone says!

Fiero! - I loved those cars! (Mid engine I believe??) ...Although I haven't seen many around in 20 years; I was lucky enough to spot one parked in a service garage parking lot while
i was out in Atlanta/Buckhead working on a job.The red paint on it was AMAZING! Someone really loved that car. It looked mint - better than the day it rolled off the line..(might be your old one - Perhaps?).
That was a year ago.

I was recently back in ATL /5 Points area (aka: "Hipster Haven") and came across a '05 Mini R50 parked in a neighborhood. The tires were flat and it was covered in filth.
I'm sure it hadn't moved in at least 2 years.' Made me think of your "Mini Journey" ..... I am tempted, to attempt, to contact the owner next time I'm out there and see if it could use a good home or at least...
a 2nd chance at life

 

I am guessing you live in GA? I live outside of Rome.
It was fun car but I moved up to Corvettes for a while. Got remarried and needed family cars.
That would be awesome if you could save it, My wife would kill me if I tried to talk her into anything else right now but she knows I want a Cabrio one day. The delivery of Mini parts has slowed down and her delivery of Xmas presents has increased.

 

Yeah - I am here in GA.... for the time being.
I have yet to get out to Rome. I'm looking forward to a nice long road trip in the Mini (on the way out). I hear its nice up there in Rome (?).

With respect to marriage and cars ... I "move up" from having 3 wild (VW) Porsche powered customs to my current '04 R53.
'originally bought the car new, for my (ex)wife. After 4 years, she was tired of looking down everyone's tail pipes. We "upgraded" her to a more compatible/contender - SUV (FX35).
I chose to have my perfectly good customs crushed (rather than sell them) and kept the Mini.
I do miss my VW's.....However, there is something about the 1st gen Minis that really appeals to me.

BTW: On the Xmas note- Yeah, I just spent a ton of $$ ordering Mini parts before the holiday delivery bogg. I'll most likely be spending the holidays under the hood

 

In a busy spell at work so I'm behind. The door card looks amazing -- like new. I may ping you for advice next summer when I turn my attention to parts of the car not under the hood.

 

I used to see all sorts of interesting stuff street parked in the little five area (I assume you mean little five and not five points). An NSX and Opel GT come to mind at the moment.

 

Go Dawgs!!

I lived in Florida before I joined the Army and I tried to talk the wife into moving there when I retired. She was born and raised in south GA and said NO but was OK for a move to North GA. That's how we ended up here. Love it here with the rolling hills, changing of the leaves and occasional snow. I grew up not far from Orlando and love the theme parks, especially Disney World.. So it's probibly a good thing we moved here or my son and I would be at the parks every weekend.

I do prefer the first gen mini's as well. They may have their issues but man it's super fun. I stayed away from them for a long time, we had 2 BMW's and they broke me of ever wanting another BMW. Plus I heard they had a lot of reliability issues but I'm an auto tech so I'm always up for a good challenge. We have a 5 year old son and he told me last night he was going to steal my MIni.

If your ever in the area the door is open!!

 

Them's fightin' words.

 

Anytime brother!!

 

Yep - Little 5 Points.
Savage Pizza!

 

How? You live in Atlanta??

I'm guessing you don't want to take a ride in my Georgia Bulldogs golf cart.

 

I've never been. We always seemed to end up at The Porter when were went to L5P.

Used to.

No thanks.

 

The wife has been dropping hints she wants to go back to Ted's Montana Grill in downtown.

 

I didn't know there was one downtown, but given it's Ted Turner, I suppose that isn't surprising. It's rare that I make it much farther south than about North Ave on that side of the connector. I did go to the one in Buckhead once though.

You're making me miss all my old haunts that I haven't been to since before the pandemic. My favorite bar closed during it

 

My favorite bar closed during it [img]images/smilies/cry.gif[/img]
So sorry for your loss. I rarely drink anymore.

On a positive note the funny squeaking coming from the belts is now gone!! One more thing off the list.

 

I should probably change my belt, now that you mention it. It looks like it's been three years for mine.

 

Hey Chief - Thanks for the kind invitation! (was wondering what ever happened to the Southern Hospitality everyone keep talking about ?....(kidding)
Unfortunately I can't say the same...My door is always locked.....Remember I live in metro Atlanta

Yeah - This little car has cost me more than it's current BB but I've learned a lot and when I started doing all the work myself. It's worth it to me $$. I'm obsessive when it comes to workmanship. I have no one to blame but myself if something goes wrong.
Truly rewarding.
I've stocked up on a bunch of parts (too many to list), - for the parts that regularly seem to fail (from what I've read)..
My oil pan gasket arrived this afternoon. That should be the end of my oil leaks. However it's waaay too cold for me to work outdoors. As much as I don't miss Orlando (Winter Park excluded), I do miss the warmer weather.
I don't do well below 82°...

BTW: Your 5 year old has great taste!

 

By the way, Chief, it's neat that you're bringing an R50 back. They don't get nearly as much love as the R53 on NAM.

Also, there seem more Georgia people here than I realized.

 

I agree on both comments.
When I was looking for the drivers seat back I saw a lot of leather seats but no cloth ones. Same with the red door panels. I could be wrong but I think most people think of base models as throw away cars. Not worth the hassle or money to keep them running. With the cost of parts and labor you can quickly go way past the value of the car. The guy I bought the car from told me after I bought it of course, that Carmax had only offered him $400.00 when he took it in. I don't think I'm upside down but I'm probibly getting very close. But I know the car and what I have done.

 

I wasn't even aware that red cloth was an option. I suspect the take on the cloth seats was pretty low, and I would bet that the sport cloth seats like mine are even rarer. IIRC, the leatherette was standard in 2006 because I'm pretty sure I had to check a box to get cloth instead. It didn't cost any extra though.

I'm not sure how people view the R50s. I bet a lot of the CVT ones have gotten junked because of the cost of fixing those. I've said for years that in a lot of cases, if you see somebody with a nice older European car, he's (or she's) probably an enthusiast and either makes a fair amount of money to be able to keep it running or spins his own wrenches. Either way, there isn't much that's financially sensible about being a car guy. At least the R50 is pretty simple, and since I've had mine from new and do all my own work, I don't have to deal with any previous owner's/mechanic's idiocy. In any case, I try not to think about the money too much since I don't have plans to ever sell. I've built mine to be a nice backroad/mountain bomber that makes me happy.

 

Worked on the drivers door card today!! Braved the cold and yanked it off first thing this morning.
Before

After

Both of the door cards are rocking now!! Not factory new looking but a heck of a lot better.


A pen had leaked in the door pocket.

After about an hour of scrubbing with alcohol and paper towels I was able to get it all removed.

 

I think I speak for most of us when I say we're gonna need a tutorial on what you did to those door panels. They are looking quite good!

 

I made a new post to maybe help another person out: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...or-panels.html

 

Crazy last few days. One of the pipes to my pool devoleped a leak, I finally got that fixed today after a trip to the pool store and Home Depot. Decided to list my 1953 Ford Golden Jubillee tractor for sale. I dont use it and it's just another thing in my yard to keep running. I told my wife I listed it for sale or trade for a Mini Cooper, I didn't and she didn't think it was too funny either.

 

I'll be happy to send you an email in which I offer to trade a Mini for your tractor so you can share it with your wife. The Mini was just in a "minor" accident so it needs body work and a new engine. Nothing you can't handle.

 

That would be epic but my wife would shoot me, especially if it was another project car. After the holidays I have a few things I need to do to my Escalade since everything on it got pushed back due to the mini resto project. I am also going to do some suprise upgrading for our cruise this summer.